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Read More… from “The godfather of nonprofit investigative journalism” to keynote 2016 FOI Summit
Tag: Washington dc
Transparency Watch–D.C. Agencies’ FOIA Performance in 2014: Still Many Delays and Frequent Agency Mistakes
DC agencies issued their statistics late for 2014 (the first late report to the D.C. Council proved incomplete and had to be called back and replaced with correct figures).
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Transparency Watch: D.C. Schools Task Force to Meet for Two Years, Develop Ideas In Secret
Issues that have been contentious in public about the future of schools in the District seem poised to disappear behind closed doors—including where to put new schools, better sharing of good ideas, reducing student mobility, serving those students not now thriving, and getting better information to families puzzled by the dizzy array of choices. These and more will be on the agenda for a new “Cross-Sector Collaboration Task Force,” according to materials released August 19 by Deputy Mayor for Education, Jennifer Niles.
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Mayor’s Latest Proposal to Limit Body Camera Video Access Takes New Hit: Washington Post Says “More Openness is Warranted”
Public evaluation has begun of D.C. Mayor Bowser's latest proposal for limited access to video from police body cameras, with press representatives, the D.C. police union, and now the Washington Post suggesting further work is needed, especially reconsidering a complete ban on release of any video taken anywhere a person has a "heightened expectation of privacy."
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D.C. Mayor Backs Releasing Certain Police Body Cam Footage – WNEW
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has proposed that footage from police body cameras be made available to the public if the encounter with police happened in a public place.
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Read More… from D.C. Mayor Backs Releasing Certain Police Body Cam Footage – WNEW
As cloud of corruption passes in D.C., regular dysfunction back in spotlight – The Washington Post
Outside the mayor’s conference room, the line of D.C. cabinet secretaries and agency directors stretched down the hall. Each studied notes and prepared excuses, like schoolchildren awaiting a turn before the principal.
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Washington DC: Bowser chastized for body cam budget threat
On the eve of the final vote on the 2016 Budget Support Act, the D.C. Open Government Coalition, the D.C. Professional Chapter of SPJ, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Office of Open Government, the ACLU of the National Capital Area and the D.C. Police Union jointly chastized Mayor Muriel E. Bowser for attempting to coerce the D.C. Council to prevent the public from gaining access to police body-worn camera videos.
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Read More… from Washington DC: Bowser chastized for body cam budget threat
D.C. Council considers steps to restrict public access to teacher evaluations
The Washington Teachers Union and open-government advocates are urging the D.C. Council to slow down a vote that would curb access to information related to teacher evaluations, one of the most controversial aspects of education reform efforts in the District.
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Read More… from D.C. Council considers steps to restrict public access to teacher evaluations
Transparency Watch: DC January 12 Transit Accident — NTSB Schedules Hearings June 23-24 on Metro Safety
What should the public know when an accident calls into question the safety of a rail system that moves 700,000 of the region’s residents every day? Does reliable information really need to take years?
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D.C. government office released students’ personal data to a reporter
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education notified parents this week that personal information about students was inadvertently sent to a reporter in February, education officials said.
District officials released an Excel file in response to a Freedom of Information Act inquiry from the Web site BuzzFeed, that included audited enrollment data about individual students and information about suspensions and expulsions.